Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro to discuss the world's food, energy and financial crises during a private three-hour meeting, state media reported Tuesday.

South American presidents reached a testy compromise Friday to resolve a dangerous crisis triggered by a Colombian military attack in Ecuador, stepping back from a week of insults, troop movements and talk of war.

The streets of Little Havana started to come alive with chatter Tuesday as people in the heart of the Cuban exile community awoke to the news that Cuban President Fidel Castro had officially resigned power.

Some excerpts from Sunday's debate for Spanish-language audiences between Republican presidential hopefuls. Tom Tancredo, a long-shot candidate who has made a tough stance on immigration the centerpiece of his campaign, refused to attend.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world body would join forces with Brazil to help protect its rain forest as he ended a week-long trip to South America with a boat ride to a remote Amazon island.